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Justice For Me
Justice For Me A Tier Above The Rest The cacophony of destruction could be heard for miles. The panic stretching into the commercial district of the city when the wind blew from the shockwave of the proud Seven Towers were felled. People were running through the streets while law enforcement was trying to rally together to keep order and approach the scene. But from the site, they could see the flashes of flames and overcast of shadows, indicating that the combat was still continuing. "What's going on?!" A man cried out, wearing what looked like civilian white shirt and jeans while being pushed back by a checkpoint created by police enforcement. "Sir, you'll have to stand back. The situation is being dealt with-" "Bullshit! My wife had won a ticket to see it from the Seven Towers!" He profusely shouted as the uniform man backed up, the barrier of tape pushed against by the man. Expression was shown of aggravation and desperation, sweat beading down his face with dilated eyes. "What happened?! I don't see them anymore! Is she-" "Sir, with all due respect to your problems, I can't have you passing through this barrier. If we get information soon, I'll let you-" The officer trailed off, just as soon as a blur of motion thrashed straight through the tape and skidded to a stop. When both of them looked over they saw a topple of unconscious bodies laying beside a panting girl. Veins of potently glowing color faded off her form as she struggled to stand up. The officer, forgetting the man completely, walked over to help the girl when she stumbled. "Miss, are you alright? Where did you come from?" "I'm...I...can't stay here," She mumbled, trying to push him away as her gaze looked over at the smoking horizon in the distance. "Must...help her..." "What are you talking about? Maam, just take it easy-" "Wait, I know her face," The man spoke aloud, pointing at her with realization. Then he saw the faces of the other three, one especially garish made his eyes bulge. "M-Mister Seven?! And two other competitors! They're from the Tournament! Ask her what happened!" "Sir, you'll need to give her some space, she looks exhausted-" "ASK HER THE DAMN QUESTIONS OR I-" WHACK! A solid crack was heard rapping across the man's skull, causing him to fall over into a large man's grip. Wearing what looked like a brown coat with a white diamond trimmed pattern, a dark emerald pair of slacks and loose fit top was seen decking the man out. With a pair of wooden clog sandles and a fashionable white-green striped hat, the man's upper features were shadowed as he looked up with a sly grin on his face. Holding the man up with one arm while waving his peculiar arch-handled cane, he held the man out to him. "So sorry about that. It looked like he was having a panic attack and looked aggressive," The mysterious man said in a laidback manner, delivering the significantly bigger built man into the smaller officer's grip. Turning away he looked at the tired yet perplexed girl as he raised a single finger over his lips. Turning back he waved at the man. "I'll take these people off your hands. Less work for you, right?" "W-Wait just a minute-!" Before he could even set the unconscious man down, a flourish of motion was seen before four of the five of them took off. Blinking with amazement they seemed to be taken off on a flying carpet. Leaving the man flabbergasted he sighed and gathered the man and Mister Seven to a nearby medical unit. He just hoped no one would ask him to be a witness to what happened cause he hadn't a clue. "Wait a minute," Maria finally declared, regaining her senses as she evaluated she was now flying back towards the collapsed ruins in the distance. "Who are you?" "You're not arguing that I've taken you up into the air back towards the battle? You're either very brave and trusting or incredibly foolish," He replied with a chuckle as he waved a fan over his face. "You didn't answer my questi-" "And I'll be happy to answer you, my dear, but you need to use what strength you have left to restore their power. I know you don't have much tolerance left to rejuvenate yourself, given your situation, I'm sure you'll try your best," He informed her quickly, retaining a rather glib manner in the way he spoke. Folding his fan as he noticed Maria erect a restoration barrier over the pair, she took slow steady breaths as her arms shook with concentration. Satisfied he turned over and waved at her with a telling grin. "My name is Mangetsu, the Councilor of Seven for Ishgar's Magic Council. I've been watching your battle casually from the comfort of my shop here in Siebte but I found the situation too dangerous to ignore. I left it in the care of my helpful colleagues to ensure that whatever lives are left are protected. Does that answer your question, Miss Maria Alexander?" Maria found herself gaping. She had heard things of the Council thanks to her mother's membership as being Fiore's representative, but seeing such a lax acting and dressed man right before her eyes was mind boggling. But, the fact he was here and now gave her hope. Even as she continued her task she looked at him pleadingly over her shoulder, "You must save my sister! She's fighting that monster and I don't know if anyone can stop him!" "Give me details," He calmly asked with his smile disclosed for a more neutral expression. "Tell me everything you know about this man and what he can do." ---- "You can't run forever, Devil!" Faer cried out with a chilling laugh, his spinning stave building up a spiraling shape of Cosmos magic around the tool. Halting the spin with a swiping gesture he sent the razor-sharp disc of cosmic energy to fly straight towards the Darkness Dragon Slayer from above to her ground state. It'd slice through the fallen wreckage like a torch of light, leaving an explosion geyser out of Ethernano in its wake. With his free hand he fired fireballs of Fire Dragon Slayer magic at her, letting loose a series of blasts at her. Despite his desire to destroy her with absolute force, he dared not underestimate her and draw close. Maintaining distance and wearing her down, no matter her speed, was the best pragmatic choice. Something he knew that'd eventually wear her out. Morgan was at a loss. Her entire fighting style was rendered effectively worthless as long as she couldn’t close the distance between herself and Faer. Between the man’s use of Prometheus’s Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and the Cosmos Magic used by Chevalier, she couldn’t find an opening to take advantage of. Her inhuman speed was more a liability than an asset and it infuriated her. Whereas a month ago, she could have run circles around her enemy, with his command of two magics capable of wide-scale destruction, it was all she could do in order to evade what he threw her way. The only solace to it all was that Faer’s attention was solely fixated on her, all part of the plan. With his focus on her, she could easily be the decoy, allowing Maria time to escape, heal the others she had taken, and hopefully find help. She had no idea how long she could play the part before making a mistake As the razor-edged disk of destruction zipped towards her, she reacted, leaping from the path of destruction at lightning speed, only for a hailstorm of flaming spheres to keep her on her toes. “There’s gotta be a gap somewhere...Got to find it.” she thought, dodging around the blazing orbs with a rapid pace. using a bit of upturned rubble as a makeshift barricade for a moment before it was vaporized in the onslaught. The dangerous dance continued for a time until Morgan decided to make a risky counterattack. Her hands glowed for a moment, a sign of her gathering power that she hoped Faer couldn’t notice amid the carnage he wrought. Wordlessly, she began to fire salvos of her Darkness Dragon’s Fang spell while remaining on the move, silently praying that whatever of her tiny blasts that successfully made their way to the ink-human could even for a moment throw off his focus enough that she could successfully make her own offensive. Faer noted the barrage of fangs made in a widespread launch from his enemy. Rearing back his head he inhaled the very around to help constitute the catalyst for the spell he'd utilize. Flinging his neck forward, his pursed lips unleashed a torrent of flames that swept across the daggers of night. While the totality of the flames were being eviscerated, the heat and pressure of the spell was enough to reduce them into smoldering vapor of ebony dye. Finished with his counterspell, the puppeted body made a grimace as he looked around with a new found sense of iration. Morgan Deschain had disappeared. "Come out of hiding," The Dark Wizard snarled as he carved a script above his head in a spiraling wide circle. The result would force gravity to be reversed in the debris strewn environment, forcing the skyscraper wreckage and robotic parts to float upward by the unnatural tug. They'd hover around his vicinity with a scarlet dye from the intense Ethernano used to pull everything into a weightless anchor in the altitude he hovered. With his eyes sweeping the area of floating wreckage once more, he enchanted his stave to glow a bright white light while his spare hand was enraptured in flames once more. "You cannot escape your fate. Before long, I will use this power I've obtained to destroy that dark master of yours and his scion!" Morgan dodged out of the way of the oncoming inferno, speeding like a bullet to evade the blazing breath. Nowhere was safe entirely, and with survival being the most important thing to her right then, she grew more and more worried. She could only hope Maria was far enough away, deathly afraid of failing to buy enough time. She would not allow the thought to come to life, no matter the cost to herself. She managed to find a solid, upturned patch of rock to hide behind, appearing to vanish amidst the conflagration the inky duplication of Faer unleashed. Moments ticked by as she caught her breath in the aftermath, sweat running down her face. However, such a reprieve was not to be for long, as even her hiding place was wrenched away in the wake of the inverted gravity created. Clutching her makeshift barrier with her Darkness Dragon’s Talons, she rose into the sky along with it. As it stopped ascending, she clambered atop it, feeling the rock shift without anything to support it. “It’s not my fate to lose! Not until Jadow lies dead, by my hand! Not yours!” she shouted in defiance, hunkered down flat in order to keep herself balanced. “Darkness Dragon’s....” she began, inhaling sharply. “ROAR!” From her mouth exuded a wave of dark magic, born of her anger, her contempt, her fear...even her love and hopes flowed as a part of the destructive beam. Between her and the floating man, it would seem as if space itself was dyed in a beautiful shade of black and violet hue. Panting heavily, she knew her spell had cost her greatly, but the fury it held was her signature ability, the ace in the hole that more times than not given her the victory. She could only pray it succeeded in stopping the deranged Faer once again . He had to commend her, in just over a month's time, she too had gotten stronger. Noteworthy for being the bastard heiress to the Alexander name. But if his observation of Maria from the last time and now was of any worth, she too had gotten stronger. The two must have worked off each other in the weeks since and have gained a logical increase of Ethernano stores. If a year had passed, who knew just how much closer this thorn in his side could be to his level? But that was neither here or there. When she appeared and made a boastful speech, it was all too easy to detect and prepare for the welling amount of magic. Despite the enhancement of emotional torrenting through the infinite blackness of her roar, he had ample amount of strength on his own. Raising his stave, it pressed into the fabric of night and caused it to warp forward in a wrapping manner. Sighing he closed his eyes, whipping the instrument around till a circular storm of onyx and violet shattered, leaving small tongues of the energy to spray around the inverted gravity of his environment. Doing so he'd look quite annoyed with her. "Your tenacity has lost its sentiment. Perhaps if you didn't possess all of his traits within that mortal frame of yours, I'd never had paid mind of you. But given our history together, I think it's only fair that I leave you broken as much as I was," He spoke, his body moving to match her own speed and reach for her neck with his free burning palm. "Have a taste of my pain-" It came like lightning. An eruption of light that spontaneously appeared between the two, catching Faer's hand in the crossfire. What he'd witness was the total erasure of his own hand, leaving a vapor of ink to rise up and evaporate. Pulling back he looked up and witnessed a carpet floating above their heads, away from the space of inverted gravity. There a man had pointed his cane, a hand resting on his hat while a smug smile elapsed over his face, hidden from view. He didn't know who this man was, but the way he had composed himself and shot a pure Ethernano blast was unnerving. With his hand regenerating, Faer barked up at the casually dressed man, faintly noticing a glow emanating on the floating transport, "Who the Hell are you?!" "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I need an invitation? Silly me, I left it in the mail with my other bills. It's like I didn't care about etiquette or anything," The man snarked as he stepped off the carpet, letting himself fall from it till he entered the space of reversed gravity. Catching his hat as his clogs found footing with a piece of concrete, he grinned cheekily at the man while twirling his cane, a thin line of steam emitted from its end indicating that was the tool he used for firing at the Ink-Human Wizard. "Where are my manners? My name is Mangetsu, and I happen to possess a seat on the Ishgar Council of Magic. I'm sure you know of us, we're a big stickler for rules; the likes of which you don't commit acts of terrorism or misuse magic for selfish purposes?" "A Councilor? HA! Here I thought I'd never run into pencil pushers like you. All talk and no bark, yet here I find one along with my annoyance. What droll," Faer remarked with a dark, rare smile as he strategized on the best course of action to dispose of them both. "Maybe you'll make this less of a game of tag and more of an actual fight between wizards, eh?" "Oh, before I forget," Mangetsu replied as he withdrew a fan and placed it over his face, leaning over to Morgan's direction to communicate in a more serious tone. "I found your sister along with the Tournament's host and two prime participants. She's on the carpet above and I'd to keep it that way, okay? Just keep your cool, and help me beat this guy, yes?" “No...” Morgan whispered in defeat as her opponent rendered one of her most powerful abilities null with such ease. The way he simply twirled his staff around and negated it showed the gap in their respective power levels. When Faer appeared in front of her, she couldn’t move, even if she hadn’t pinned herself to the floating rock. Fear rooted her in place as a flaming hand reached towards her. “Sorry Maria, I lied to y---” Her soon to be final thought was interrupted by a streak of light falling from the heavens above, vaporizing the hand that neared her neck. The moment Faer pulled away to recover from the event, she stood up, shaking as she got her balance. Before she could press the newfound advantage, a man fell from above, landing next to her on the rock. She assumed he was the one who sent the perfectly timed blast that saved her life. When he informed her that Maria was on the carpet above, she wanted to scream. All her hard fighting to keep Faer occupied had come undone. Rage boiled within her. The only reason she didn’t lash out at the newcomer for endangering her sister was that he had saved her life and the carpet wasn’t in immediate danger. “You don’t understand what he is...That thing isn’t entirely human. We need to take him down with one attack or else he’ll just regenerate as if nothing happened.” she said, taking a defensive stance, trying to find an opening. "I heard, your sister filled me in," The Councilor replied with a nod, fanning himself in a feigned attempt to keep up the guise he wasn't muttering valuable information to the young Slayer. "Which means that he has a weakness, an obvious one. He can't feel or react in the same way his ordinary body is. I doubt he even acknowledges pain, only the damage that comes after an attack lands. So if you manage to get into a blindspot, his endurance won't matter because he has no awareness of the nervous system in that doll body. If I take his attention off you, do you think you can create a wide enough spell that can annihilate him?" "Stop trying to buy time, Councilor," Faer called out, causing Mangetsu to fan himself and stand upright with a wide-eyed expession. With the Ink Wizard raising his glowing stave in a presenting manner, he declared in a monotone. "It's time I wiped you both out in an instant." Through the power of Cosmos Magic, the young mage let loose a barrage of spiraling projectiles of light that looked about the size of wasps. Aiming to hit them both, a magnificent blast echoed within the inverted gravity field. Blinking he realized that the two had vanished causing him to lean around and sneer at their sudden disappearing act. Their Ethernano that emanated around them hadn't disappeared but it was too soft of a noise for him to decipher among his floating array of debris. "Running away, are we?!" He snarled, letting loose a casual wave of his left hand, unleashing a volatile ring of flames that swathed over the buildings, burning them up and reducing floating corpses into ash. Within a floating half shell that he missed was Mangetsu, releasing Morgan within as they floated within the burning and exploding wreckage. "Come out! Or do you want me to put the lives of this entire city in jeopardy as well?!" "I swear, that boy has anger issues," The Councilor murmured as he looked out from their floating cover. Turning to look back at Morgan once more, he asked her again with the utmost seriousness. "I want to know if I can count on you so my plans will work. Can you produce another sizable attack capable of destroying his ink-body?" Morgan listened as the man known as Mangetsu informed her that he already knew about their now shared adversary. What struck her as strange was the false body’s inability to feel pain. It explained why he didn’t seem deterred after losing his hand mere seconds before. She knew of only one spell in her repertoire that could destroy the ink human, leaving no trace behind in the process. However, before she was about to agree to the idea, Faer struck, forcing the duo to evade, with the Dragon Slayer being saved by the councilman’s timely action. The ink mage’s threat against the rest of the city made her seethe with rage. Darkness emanated from her body as her anger grew, her powers building towards something. The voice that constantly nagged at her instead begged for the sudden release of magic that was already beginning to take shape. “''Kill him, just like he killed all those people. Even if he’ll never feel it, you can stop him from getting away entirely.” After a moment to focus and drown out the distractions, she calmly looked at Mangetsu, a serious expression on her face. “If you can get an opening, I can take him down. I have one spell he hasn’t seen yet, he won’t know how to handle it.” she said, emotionless despite her fury. ''“I won’t fail to destroy that thing...if I do, no one will be able to stop him...” She thought of Maria, floating just above the battleground, how much danger she was in. “I won’t fail.” she vocalized as her dark aura grew along with her surging magical power. A Battle of Enchanters Eyeing her with a hint of wariness, one could almost suspect he was afraid of the small girl. But still, the smile was renewed at her words being spoken aloud and it gave him confidence. Placing his hand over his hat, he stood tall and walked into the middle of space as if it was solid ground. His clogs clacking as he went before he instantly...disappeared. Like a shuffling of paper over stone he'd reappear behind Faer. The Ink Mage instantly twirled around to swipe his staff at his head, instantly connecting with a raised cane. The clash that was made produced a spray of light that shattered the floating infrastructure in a perfect ninety degree angle, atomizing it and reducing it to dust. Despite all of that, not a scratch was made on the make-up of the simple walking stick that was used as a parrying catalyst. "So, you can block my attacks well enough," Faer Pleigh patronized with a scoffing breath, his left hand already thrusting forward in a clenched fist. "But you're still open!" Knuckles would produce a howling flame, billowing out in an infernal cloud of smoke and superheated tongues. But like before it'd be dispersed seemingly upon proximity, as the fist hit something solid and the magic fire was snuffed out just as quickly. With genuine shock in his eyes this time around he saw that the man's fingers had formed a ridge-hand gesture, stopping his punch in a well executed jabbing thrust. More importantly, not a single part of his skin was burned nor the rest of his coat. A look of cold determination had entered the Councilor's eyes as the pair locked gazes. "Now you're the one who's open," Mangetsu murmured, twisting his extended hand around so its palm would face upright. Flakes of snow seemed to rise up, swirling around in a cyclone before he blew air through pursed lips towards it. The result had a howling wind of force crash straight into him, funneling him back as if he was struck by a cannon of frosted storm thrust. The rubble became brittle in the frigid temperature that rapidly dropped, allowing it to be smashed into thousands of pieces as the ink-man's body was glazed with frozen water over his body as it finally ended with smashing into the latter part of a skyscraper. Rising up, he stumbled forward as parts of his limbs flaked away, his mouth not even shuddering at the cold that his pseudo-body was undergoing. Letting loose an aura of flames that quickly melted the frost away he looked up and witnessed the man raising his cane. A faint halo of light round over its handle before he swung it down, causing an instantaneous flash of lightning to erupt above Faer's body, electrocuting him while sending him plummeting into the ground below. With puddles of ichor dripping along the ground as he struggled to regen what was damaged, he timely raised his stave up to defend against a cane swipe that would have pummeled his head; but the follow-up light that enraptured the lower half of the cane did instantly create a sudden increase of gravity that sent him burrowing into a deep crater. "What the Hell is going on?!" He thought as he struggled to even rise under the influence of such intense force placed on him, feeling as if the earth was slowly bringing him deeper and deeper below the city's sea level. "I have higher magic stores, this body and his cannot compare on that. Yet he's handily beating me around?! How?!" "Please don't get up," The Councilor inferred as he rested the cane near the ground with one hand on it and the other holding the rim of his hat with a look of unamused seriousness fixed on the hole that continued to glow a deep red as his magic did its work. "I have a plan that needs to go smoothly, and I'd rather you not mess it up by resisting." "RRRRGH!" In a bout of overwhelming anger, the force of Ethernano being exerted was enough to break the shackles of the localized gravity well. An explosion that tore apart the land flew back, forcing the self-guiding carpet to soar away from the blast site while the enchanted bifurcated colossus shell Morgan took refuge in was shielded by the blast. When the Cosmos produced magic wave had died down, Mangetsu was seen raising his cane aloft, having not took one step away from the destruction as one would expect. Faer, on the other hand, was on the offensive as he lifted up from the ground with his stave coating the air in light cast letters. With a circular array of runes cast and the prior inverse gravity effect lifted, the ink-human body seemed to have gained a more muscular definition and even a darker hue. Red eyes gleamed along with a satisfied smile, something that made the Councilor bat a few blinks of recognition. "You used Letter Magic by way of the Cosmos you stole to speed up your inscription to enchant your body? Are you sure you've never trained this magic before?" He queried with genuine excitement in his voice. "You sound like my masters, heh," Faer briefly replied, his tresses of blonde hair flourishing with animated motion. The rest of his black cloak also rivulet with the flow of his magic power, enabling him to float out of the pit that had birthed a desolate wasteland in the heart of the city save for the armored colossus on either end of it. "I was called a prodigy ever since a young age. Comprehending the concepts of the arts and then theorizing new ways to utilize them through a simple means I wanted to spread my ability as good will to men. It was only my naivete that led me into the darkest corners of this earth and birthed a new purpose...to balance this world by purging its evil, corrupt system!" "...did I ask for your tragic backstory?" The Councilor glibbed with a slumped expression, quickly replaced with an amused smile. "Still, that explains why you can use a magic you've never encountered in your life so easily. You're a prodigy, a natural in the spellcasting arts. I can tell by the way you carry yourself you too are an Enchanter." "Wait," The Ink Wizard realized with awestruck eyes. "That means, you are...an Enchanter?" "Something like that," He vaguely intoned as he placed one hand over his hat. "That explains how you can handle the power gap between us. You disperse my spells by enchanting your cane or the air to cancel out the power of my castings," Faer declared with a wave of his stave. "Perhaps," Mangetsu again ambiguously replied with a smug smile as he shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I can nullify magic. I did after all manage to disintegrate one of your limbs with pure Ethernano discharge. Or was that just a one-time fluke? I've yet to do that again. Is that something that I can do at any time or am I simply playing around? So many questions and yet, I've of no mind to inform you. Let's just say, seeing is believing. And what have you seen so far?" "An annoyance who've I wasted too much time talking to," The aggressive man declared with a aurora of energy suddenly flashing around him. Charging forward he swung his stave around to crack against Mangetsu's cane, causing the latter to flash a wide-eyed expression as the force unleashed was purely physical. Combined with an ignition of Ethernano, his body was sent flying, crashing against the flattened landscape of brittle earth. By the time he'd raise upright, he'd find the young man behind him, planting a crackling smash of his fist that let loose his Fire Dragon Slayer magic into his backside. Flying back he began to rain a series of blows that were barely countered or were simply hitting him altogether. "I've enchanted my entire body to be able to fight on a far more physical level. Strength. Speed. Flight. Reflexes. I augmented them all so that I can overcome your own reaction timing that allows your Enchantment to be so useful...or whatever you like to call your petty tricks." Stopping with a pivotting spin kick, he inhaled deeply and then let loose a violent roar. Through the howl of a small meteor sized fireball that was coated in starlight, accelerating its velocity by way of Cosmos to hit the target quickly. But just as the flames began to bowl him over, a sudden singing sound of metal escaping wood was heard. In hand, in front of the now vanishing ball of illuminated flames, was the smiling Mangetsu who simply smiled despite the flurry of beatings he just received. Landing with an elegant clop, he lowered his cane-handled sword while still holding the scabbard in one hand. "Didn't you think that I took similar precautions when I took a gander at your light show?" The Councilor asked, making Faer sneer with a dawning understanding as the man smugly addressed. "Enchantment doesn't need to have such boisterous commands or bright colors. It can be silent and quiet as feathers gracing the wind. I had woven my own circle of Enchantment, nothing so based or complex as you'd come up with. Just simply the fact your Enchantment is nullified by coming into my little circle of proximity; like the spells I deflected before, of course but only with my hand or the cane I utilized." "You're more cunning than I deduced," Faer acknowledged with an icy glare, his aura rising up once again to jettison flames and flickers of starlight all around him. "But you can only dance around before the inevitable occurs. I'll eventually get in a hit, a stroke or a single spell. That's when you'll lose." "And you can only keep maneuvering around until your puppet body is in a state that cannot move more than your will can make it," Mangetsu intoned, causing the Ink Wizard to twitch. Smiling he raised his sword up and kept a relaxed posture. "Shall we continue?" Without a verbal retort, Faer swung his stave and began the conflict anew. The light sprayed while it was cut down by the hat and clogs Wizard while he countered with an enchanted swipe of fiery wind. Countered with a swing of his own fire emboldened limb, he'd rise up and unleash a wide spraying attack that the Councilor evaded with swift speed and dexterous agility. The two continued to exchange fire, dodging and countering while not truly making genuine headway. It was as stated before, a dance. Untile one slipped up or one made a mistake, then they'd unleash a furious continuous assault that'd cause genuine damage. Morgan caught the look Mangetsu had as she voiced her affirmation. The wariness in his eyes reminded her that not too long before, her overflowing might had earned a similar stare from Maria. Only now, she wasn’t lost in the madness. It scared her to realize how calm she was, how in control she felt. It felt so alien and yet so perfect, even if her mind couldn’t rationalize how or why things were different, she thought it was a step in the right direction. When the man vanished from her sight, she peeked around the rock that was her shield against the onslaught Faer had caused moments prior, waiting and watching for the perfect opening to take advantage of. She held her ever-mounting power in check only through sheer force of will, feeling a negative charge in the air around herself all the while. What she witnessed was as shocking at it was incredible. At every turn, the two mages had managed time and again to outperform each other, no small feat when just a few minutes before, Faer had run circles around her, negating even her strongest offensives. Neither the ink mage nor the councilor seemed to give an inch, nor did they seem to gain much of an advantage after any exchange of blows and spells. A sudden scream rang out and an incredible blast of might seemed to reduce the already destroyed arena grounds to a mere wasteland. Moments before impact, she ducked once more into the protective shell. She felt her shielded piece of statue lurch as the wave smashed into it, amazed that it held despite the scale of the explosion just prior. When she felt the blast come to a halt and she could regain her bearings, once more she poked her head out to see what had transpired. As she did so, her eyes went wide; Faer broke out of the gravity well Mangetsu had snared him with Just sensing the intense magical power the duplicated criminal was able to put out at that moment, the sheer volume was on a different level than any other opponent before. Seeing the inhuman monster break free of what bound him was bad enough. She could only hope that her once the copy fell, the original didn’t retain what it had gained. Shortly after, the battle returned to a practical stalemate, neither one gaining even a momentary upper hand, no opening with which to strike. As far as Morgan could tell, their duel could stretch out for some time yet, all the better as far as she was concerned. It gave her precious seconds to ensure she had prepared the strongest spell she could. Faer was feeling mounting impatience. The Magic Councilor was too skilled and cautious to take off guard naturally, each of their moves seeming to work in cancelling the other out. Despite his greater reserves of Magic, he could sense a great deal of power in him as well. Nothing seemed to be committed that'd risk the other beyond his earlier wave of destruction; something of which that had no effect on him whatsoever. In the midst of this chaos he felt a pulse, a thrum of dark power surging upwards. Turning to look at the armored shell of what remained of the colossus was a murky darkness that ebbed out like poison. "He's just baiting me, away from her," He sneered as he swatted another blast of enchantment sent in his direction. His scowl was noticeable to Mangetsu, causing him to look more steeled than his casual self. "Councilor, you were just dancing around me the whole time, like a string to a cat. The real prize lies in that solitary structure you protected from my earlier blast. Unfortunate that I'll have to take your plan and tear it down the middle." Zooming away into the sky he'd use a combination of his Enchantment with his Cosmic and Slayer Magic to bolster his speed. With his stave heaved back, he threw it like a lance, intending on destroying the barrier with overwhelming force. The light spear was moving at a momentum no ordinary human could track; not that it mattered to the Councilor either way. Just as the projectile would appear in front of Morgan's eyes, it'd evaporate into thin air, sending it elsewhere to nearly strike him within the sky. "Impossi-!" Faer began to retort as he speedily avoided the attack, his shoulder suddenly grappeled. When he turned to look at him, he felt his whole body halt and suspend in space. No matter what he tried he couldn't move. "No!" "I've Enchanted your body to be infused directly with a barrier within your form. Even now you can't manifest Ethernano or change shape. You're now helpless," He intoned as he looked down at Morgan, keeping his palm locked into place. "NOW MORGAN!" Morgan froze as she saw Faer making a magic-fueled beeline towards her location. To be forced into a confrontation would waste all of her precious energy, gathered not for the purpose of defending herself but for a single destructive blast. When the copy-human threw his staff towards her, there was no chance to evade the tool before it struck home. Only the timely intervention on Mangetsu’s part was able to prevent the young slayer from suffering what would be a previous wound otherwise. Mere seconds later, the opening she had waited for arrived. Even before the council member called for her, she made her move, climbing atop the makeshift barricade she had hidden behind. It was time for her to put an end to the monster who now stood exposed, vulnerable. “Dragon Slayer’s Secret Art...” she intoned solemnly, raising her left arm skyward, her fingertips pointed towards the heavens. The gathered magical power that sought release crackled like violet electricity around the outstretched digits. “Hel’s Sorrow!” A sudden downward swipe of her hand and the spell began to form. As if following a straight line, darkness itself billowed up from the very earth below them. It rose up with impossible speed, ascending like smoke. Although it appeared a single, dense mass, it was in fact a myriad of immensely long and thin blades. All things unfortunate enough to end up within it would be destroyed entirely by the curtain of shadow. Anything lucky enough to avoid entirely being ensnared would still be rent asunder, the parts within the spell’s confines torn apart. Indeed, Hel’s Sorrow was a spell designed to remove from its caster’s sight all that earned her ire with little fanfare and no mercy. If Faer could feel pain, he knew he'd be under a tremendous fold of it. The shadows rose up and claimed his body. Unlike ordinary blades which his Ink-Body could recover from the darkness itself ripped the fabric of his being. Due to the restrictive barrier he'd shatter like glass, annihilated on a level that defied his imagining Morgan being capable of. Despite this, he had managed one sneering grin as he was reduced to dust, a powdery that vanished within the pyre of ashes that the enormous spell had generated. High above and near the point of battle, the recovered Prometheus and Chevalier could only gawk in wonderment at the sheer scale of her spell. "Man, even I'd want no part in that spell," The Fire Drake muttered as he watched the man who was responsible in their vile enemy's destruction, untouched but still looking surprised at the intangible oblivion his opponent turned into. "So...that guy got us up here so we could just watch? Talk about rubbing salt into the wound..." "I think he was moreover thinking of us as a Plan B in case they were unable to handle the situation," Chevalier countered with a sideglance of irritation. "How did you even come to that conclusion? Are you that egotistical?" "I'm the Hype of my existence. You don't need anyone more badass than me," The Salamander jeered with a smug grin. "After all, we never did finish our match." "I'd hardly call our battle a draw when I had yet to receive injury from you-" "Y-You both did great, and the day is saved," Maria tried to calm the both of them down with a weak smile, still fatigued from having to restore their bodies back to full health. Inwardly her heart soared at the sight of her sister's spell wreaking havoc in such a wretched man from the past. Even though she knew that it wasn't his body, his machinations had ceased and the people of this city were saved of meeting the same fate as many in the protected towers. "Well...most of it..." "Yeah, this guy's going to be top priority on everyone's shit list after the stunt he pulled," Prometheus huffed as he withdrew a cigarette and lit it up while Chevalier furrowed his brows. "What if...that was his goal?" He murmured aloud, cupping his chin. "Acts of terrorism are more for statements rather than results of the cause. He wanted to display his power by robbing the strength of the strongest finalists and then turning it on the city's people. Given the severity of this battle and the result it took to destroy one effigy of him, it's safe to assume that this is just but one stage of his plan." "So, what? You're saying he's got some ulterior motive other than pissing the wrong people off?" The fire-headed man turned to look dubiously while Maria listened with intrigue. "It's speculation at best but...we can assume that this enemy wants something and probably has powerful allies to hide and support him. If that's the case, we should prepare ourselves for another rude announcement from the likes of him," The blonde retorted. As Maria let these thoughts swim in her young, intelligent mind, she witnessed Mangetsu drop next to Morgan and scoop her presumedly tired frame. Lifting her up quickly in a blink of an eye, she was deposited next to her sister while he hailed the carpet to move around. "I'll take you people wherever you need to go," Mangetsu replied candidly with a nod at his passengers. "So sit back and enjoy Mangetsu Air Travels. Your fee is for you to not forget that I did you a favor; one I intend to collect at a future time. Keep that in mind while I have to gather up the other Councilors for our inevitable meeting," He grinned smugly as he gave them a wave before muttering to himself with a bowed head and a groan, "oooooh, the paper work and talking is going to suuuuuuuuuck!" "Are you alright, Morgan?" Maria inquired as she held her sister's hand and rubbed her shoulder with her own. "I know fighting him must have brought some bad memories...you were amazing but, I know you wanted to tell me something earlier before this spiraled out of control. Did you want some time before we talked?" It was over in an instant. As the wave of darkness faded away, Morgan sighed with relief. No sign of her reoccuring foe’s body remained behind, not even a scrap. She was so exhausted that she only had two thoughts, to reach her sister and to rest, nothing else mattered. She began to collapse as the drain from her spell fully took hold of her. Before she could drop, Mangetsu intervened. In her current state, she lacked the willpower to even protest the man’s aid. Moments later, she found herself next to Maria. With no hesitation, she clasped her sister’s hand and leaned into her for support, feeling as if she herself could collapse at any moment. “I’m alright, don’t worry.” she began, “but I want to rest for a bit before...before we talk about that. I promise, once I feel better, I’ll explain everything.” The words were quickly followed by a yawn that she did little to cover up. It took all her remaining strength to resist falling asleep. Despite her lack of energy, she enjoyed the peaceful moment her victory bought and the chance to spend it with someone who mattered more than anything else.